The Great Conversation: Volume II

Descartes through Derrida and Quine

Seventh Edition

Norman Melchert

Description

Ideal for courses in modern philosophy or modern and contemporary philosophy, The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy, Volume II: Descartes through Derrida and Quine, Seventh Edition, covers the same material as the second half (chapters 12-26) of author Norman Melchert's longer volume. Tracing the exchange of ideas between history's key philosophers, it demonstrates that while constructing an argument or making a claim, one philosopher almost always has others in mind. It addresses the fundamental questions of human life: Who are we? What can we know? How should we live? and What sort of reality do we inhabit?

Author Norman Melchert provides a generous selection of excerpts from major philosophical works and makes them more easily
understandable to students with his lucid and engaging explanations. Extensive cross-referencing shows students how philosophers respond appreciatively or critically to the thoughts of other philosophers. The text is enhanced by two types of exercises--"Basic Questions" and "For Further Thought"--and numerous illustrations.

Also available to suit your course needs: The seventh editions of The Great Conversation, Volume I: Pre-Socratics through Descartes and the entire book, The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy, which begins with the Pre-Socratics and ends with David Chalmers

Previous publication dates

The Great Conversation: Volume II

Descartes through Derrida and Quine

Seventh Edition

Norman Melchert

Table of Contents

*=New to this Edition A Word to InstructorsA Word to StudentsAcknowledgmentsTimeline12. Moving from Medieval to Modern The World God Made for UsThe HumanistsReforming the ChurchSkeptical Thoughts RevivedCopernicus to Kepler to Galileo: The Great Triple Play13. René Descartes: Doubting Our Way to Certainty The MethodMeditations on First PhilosophyMeditation IMeditation IIMeditation IIIMeditation IVMeditation VMeditation VIWhat Has Descartes Done?A New Ideal for KnowledgeA New Vision of RealityProblemsThe Preeminence of Epistemology14. Hobbes, Locke, and Berkeley: Materialism and the Beginnings of Empiricism Thomas Hobbes:
Catching Persons in the Net of the New ScienceMethodMinds and MotivesSketch: Francis BaconThe Natural Foundation of Moral RulesJohn Locke: Looking to ExperienceOrigin of IdeasIdea of SubstanceIdea of the SoulIdea of Personal IdentityLanguage and EssenceThe Extent of KnowledgeOf Representative GovernmentOf TolerationGeorge Berkeley: Ideas into ThingsAbstract IdeasIdeas and ThingsGod15. David Hume: Unmasking the Pretensions of Reason How Newton Did ItTo Be the Newton of Human NatureThe Theory of IdeasThe Association of IdeasCausation: The Very IdeaThe Disappearing SelfSketch: The BuddhaRescuing Human FreedomIs It Reasonable to
Believe in God?Understanding MoralityReason Is Not a MotivatorThe Origins of Moral JudgmentIs Hume a Skeptic?16. Immanuel Kant: Rehabilitating Reason (within Strict Limits) CritiqueJudgmentsGeometry, Mathematics, Space, and TimeCommon Sense, Science, and the A Priori CategoriesSketch: Baruch SpinozaPhenomena and NoumenaSketch: Gottfried Wilhelm von LeibnizReasoning and the Ideas of Metaphysics: God, World, and SoulThe SoulThe World and the Free WillGodThe Ontological ArgumentReason and MoralityThe Good WillThe Moral LawSketch: Jean-Jacques RousseauAutonomyFreedom17. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: Taking History Seriously Historical and
Intellectual ContextThe French RevolutionThe RomanticsEpistemology InternalizedSketch: Arthur SchopenhauerSelf and OthersStoic and Skeptical ConsciousnessHegel's Analysis of ChristianityReason and Reality: The Theory of IdealismSpirit Made Objective: The Social Character of EthicsHistory and Freedom18. Kierkegaard and Marx: Two Ways to "Correct" Hegel Kierkegaard: On Individual ExistenceThe AestheticThe EthicalThe ReligiousThe IndividualMarx: Beyond Alienation and ExploitationAlienation, Exploitation, and Private PropertyCommunism19. The Utilitarians: Moral Rules and the Happiness of All (Including Women) The Classic Utilitarians* Profile: Peter SingerThe Rights of Women20. Friedrich Nietzsche: The Value of Existence Pessimism and TragedyGood-bye Real WorldThe Death of GodRevaluation of ValuesMaster Morality/Slave MoralityProfile: Iris MurdochThe OvermanAffirming Eternal Recurrence21. The Pragmatists: Thought and Action Charles Sanders PeirceFixing BeliefBelief and DoubtTruth and RealityMeaningSignsJohn DeweyThe Impact of DarwinNaturalized EpistemologySketch: William JamesNature and Natural ScienceValue Naturalized22. Ludwig Wittgenstein: Linguistic Analysis and Ordinary Language Language and Its LogicTractatus Logico-PhilosophicusSketch: Bertrand RussellPicturingThought and LanguageLogical TruthSaying and ShowingSetting the Limit to ThoughtValue and the SelfGood and Evil, Happiness and UnhappinessThe UnsayableProfile: The Logical PositivistsPhilosophical InvestigationsPhilosophical IllusionLanguage-GamesNaming and MeaningFamily ResemblancesThe Continuity of Wittgenstein's ThoughtProfile: ZenOur Groundless Certainty23. Martin Heidegger: The Meaning of Being What Is the Question?The CluePhenomenologyBeing-in-the-WorldThe "Who" of DaseinModes of DisclosureAttunementUnderstandingDiscourseFalling-AwayIdle TalkCuriosityAmbiguityCareDeathConscience, Guilt, and
ResolutenessTemporality as the Meaning of Care24. Simone de Beauvoir: Existentialist, Feminist AmbiguityProfile: Jean-Paul SartreEthicsWoman25. Postmodernism: Derrida, Foucault, and Rorty Deconstruction: Jacques Derrida* Writing, Iterability, Difference* Deconstructing a Text* Knowledge and Power: Michel Foucault* Archaeology of Knowledge* Genealogy* Liberal Ironist: Richard Rorty* Contingency, Truth, and Anti-essentialism* Liberalism and the Hope of Solidarity* Relativism* 26. Physical Realism and the Mind: Quine, Dennett, Searle, Nagel, Jackson, and Chalmers Science, Common Sense, and Metaphysics: Willard van Orman QuineThe Matter of Minds* Intentionality*Intentional Systems: Daniel DennettThe Chinese Room: John SearleConsciousness: Nagel, Jackson, ChalmersAfterwordAppendix: Writing a Philosophy PaperCreditsGlossaryIndex

The Great Conversation: Volume II

Descartes through Derrida and Quine

Seventh Edition

Norman Melchert

Author Information

Norman Melchert is Selfridge Professor of Philosophy Emeritus and a former Acting Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Lehigh University.

The Great Conversation: Volume II

Descartes through Derrida and Quine

Seventh Edition

Norman Melchert

Reviews and Awards

"This is certainly one of the best introductory texts on the market, possibly the best. For students who will take only one course in philosophy, this is the book that I would recommend; it will give them an excellent overview of more than two thousand years of philosophical debate."--Michael Henry, St. John's University